THE NEW YORKER men simply lay on the bare steel. As soon as the ship got under way, the cover was closed over their heads, and it stayed closed throughout the voyage, which took forty-eight hours because the ship moved only at night, ducking into har- bor at daylight. "It was like a coffin," Ehrich said. The outcries of the men in delirium around him were all in Ger- man, and Ehrich felt certain that he was the only American aboard. The rations, which were distributed by mess order- lies, were black bread, water, cold po- tatoes, and lukewarm coffee. Being equipped with guns, the vessel was a legitimate target for Allied planes, and the first night out it was attacked sev- eral times. "Sounded like hail on the steel cover, like big hailstones hitting a porch roof back home," Ehrich said. After his fourth or fifth meal, Ehrich felt strong enough to drag himself up the ladder he had noticed the mess orderlies using. No one tried to stop him. .l\bove deck, he found that it was twi- light. The barge, which he saw was one of three similar craft in convoy, was at anchor in a bay, just off a port Ehrich later found out was Salerno. The crew of his barge, and apparently of the oth- ers, were swimming in the bay. By the time they returned to the ship, it was night. Ehrich lay huddled in a corner on the top deck as the ship resumed its voy- age up the shadowy coast toward Na- ples. A sailor on one of the other barges played an accordion. "'La Paloma,' " Ehrich said. "A beautiful selection." Whenever the sailor stopped playing, Ehrich could still hear the steady moan- ing of the men below deck on his own vessel. "He played a lot," Ehrich said. "He only stopped when he got tired. I wondered if he could hear the men be- low on his ship like I could on mine." Ehrich stayed on deck until the night air grew too cold for him, then let himself down the ladder. A couple of hours later he felt the barge beaching itself, hard. The voyage was over. E HRICH took a long sip of beer and said, "Boy, I used to think the U. S. Army was something, but you ought to see the Germans. They got no system at all. Nobody in Naples knew we were coming. A thousand casualties on the beach and no transportation." A rickety bus with room for about fifty passengers finally pulled up, and Ehrich and nearly a hundred other casualties were crowded into it and driven to a hospital. There Ehrich, to his delight, was ordered to join three other Ameri- cans-two enlisted men and a pilot. They were all given a further interro- . 51 :: %r: ' [' #. . ." ......:.- - ... .:.:. '. . .. .... i . I. < >'^ t .\"-' .uu [ , o ':::(:;:;'" "'-:...,,:. _n _"'__"".h_ ................ _. -.<J ,0:-- 0 __ ,I" ,::,,:, ,,' :\U :' '..:.,";.=. (. . - J::, '"""", '" ," "":.:: .' ", : ::i:. ':: . ::: :. :':';', , .': W: .: ;i:: ":. :.:: : ; ;:: :: L-n,: .....:-.:... :. :.:y;: or. , :oJi ' i,1Jr7?.-! ' " """--"'" .J'''' ..-.- ....-.). ..... ... .," . -I ". .".'; ,.;.> - ..-.... ..-'-'-',,; :; :,,-,,,,"" '", : ;.:;..... ': ;<:: <*,-W::. ;::': ,/ /--' .. :{:::::-:-: : ,::::<'=:m' ':\: ; r t , "': :":', ".;.::;::' Wi ' :' ' >' ç >. :;':',},::,":" ,,; :. .::::"::: ;, ',',, ,',:" .:: ..;::-=: . ..:.: ' ;:: JJFor the first time in my life I don't mind packing!" Navy flyers praise "Seapack"* luggage for its convenience and J1 shipshape ll stowage of personal gear in all climates. Designed in co-operation with the Navy IlSeapackJl is now available only to Navy, Coast Guard and Marine Aviation personnel through supply officers at Naval Aviation Activities. HA HARTMANN TRUNK COMPANY. RACINE, WISCONSIN *Trade Mark 402,791 Registered U. S. Patent Office by U. S. Navy .